Fall Arts Preview: Galleries

  Frame Works  A self-taught painter whose work has been featured in POV Evolving Gallery in Los Angeles and the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Oldfather won the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award in 2013. A solo exhibition of her Soft Armor series runs Oct. 2-Nov. 1 at Bonfoey Gallery.  Baby Bumps  Oldfather recently became a mother, which inspired Soft Armor. Her fluid paintings start with thin layers of paint overlain with strokes of color from brushes 1/16 to 8 inches wide. "Babies are so fragile and soft. It's amazing how we survive the world," Oldfather says. "It's as if the soft, delicate, the squishy is trying to protect itself with these strokes."  Space Traveler  Oldfather's initial works veered more toward realism but experimenting with pressure strokes and paint layers led to her evolving style. "I wanted to excavate through the paint and create abstractions in 3-D and even 4-D," says Oldfather.  Mixed Media  Soft Armor features two distinct formats: layers of spray paint on grayish natural linen and white-primed Masonite boards washed with acrylic-based paints. "The paintings on the linen are done in atmospheric grays and blues," says Oldfather, "while the paintings on the Masonite boards are done in glazes, drips, ink washes and pours." // Roxanna Coldiron